William H. Johnson

William H. Johnson was an interesting artist to learn about. His artwork took on many forms but the folk art style paintings of everyday life were fun to talk about and finally inspire work from the kids. They had a choice of a portrait of a single person or two people.

The kids and I talked about the time constraint that we had in finishing these portraits using oil pastels (when you want the color to be solid the coloring can take quite a while). So the students colored the faces first followed by the body (most of them) and then the background, horizon line first, outline background details, finally color in the background. I like how this turned out for different kids who each work at a different pace. They all look completed and unique!